Court Holds Reasonable Use Finding Not Required For Wastewater Discharge Permits

In Los Angeles Waterkeeper v. State Water Resources Control Board, the Second District of the California Court of Appeal considered whether the State and Regional Water Boards have an obligation under California Constitution, the California Water Code and/or the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to review wastewater discharge permits prior to granting approval of the permits. The trial court held that the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) did have a duty to evaluate whether the amount of wastewater being discharged was reasonable before issuing a permit. However, the court found that the Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region (Regional Water Board) did not have a similar duty, because the reasonability assessment of a discharge is conducted at the state level and the Regional Water Board's authority is limited to assessing water quality. On appeal, the Second District affirmed the judgments of dismissal in favor of